For, as she pressed against him, the little señorita took from her bosom the dagger that the woman Inez had given her when she had attempted to make an escape, and which had been forgotten afterward. And she reached around him even as she buried her head against his breast, and sawed with the sharp dagger at the cords that bound his wrists.
“Careful!” she warned. “Hold the ends of the ropes, so they will not know that you are free!”
“Sí!” he breathed. “Never in all the world was there ever a señorita like you! Hope sings within me again!”
“Do not let it show in your face!” she warned.
Her hands crept to the front again, and she slipped the dagger into the sash around his waist. She knew that he felt it, and knew that it was there. And then she stepped back, and raised her voice so that those at the window could hear.
“It is the only way, Diego!” she said. “I must leave you—I cannot endure this scene longer! Take my lips, Diego—for the last time!”
She raised her head, and her eyes closed. He bent forward, their lips touched. And then she gave a little cry as though of pain, and rushed back toward the door. And Señor Zorro remained standing against the wall, anguish in his countenance.
Barbados opened the door and let the señorita out of the room, then closed and fastened the door again. Captain Ramón hurried up to her.
“You have decided, señorita?” he asked.
“Almost am I ready to give you my sacred word, but not quite,” she replied. “It is a terrible thing for me, señor. Give me but one little hour. Let me go to old Fray Felipe and have him pray with me.”